Lately, I've been thinking a lot more about creativity. Then, over the weekend, one of my creative heroes, Virgil Abloh, passed away. The sad news and learning more about Virgil’s life caused me to dig even deeper into the concept of creativity.

Creativity really is everywhere. Paintings. Fashion. Architecture. Furniture. Music. Films. Games. Nature. It is both in and around all of us.

Maybe you might believe that you are not creative, or that you’re not creative enough. And someone else is creative.

But no one “is” creative. Creativity existed before you and me. You can’t become it.

Some people simply take more time to notice creativity. They observe, reflect, and piece things together. That’s a creative act — something that you can do as much as you choose. Just like cooking, or playing piano, or working in a woodshop. The more you do it, the better you’ll notice the mix of risk and practice that creativity involves. And as you do, there are moments when you’ll be faced with whether or not to take a creative leaps of your own.

Some people may have more of a knack for certain things, but it doesn’t mean they ARE creative. It means their environment and how they engaged with that environment fostered some amount of fluid thought, or playfulness, or rigor. Which is a reminder that there are things you can do to foster those characteristics in yourself too.

No one is creative. Creativity is already in and around all of us. Whether or not you act upon it, is up to you.

It’s up to all of us.

Photo credit: Nathan Bahadursingh via Architizer